Brea police contract: an 'unexpected' increase
A balanced budget for the fiscal year beginning Friday became a harder-to-reach goal due to what some city officials are calling an “unexpected” increase in costs for the Brea police contract, which consumes nearly 45 percent of Yorba Linda’s revenue stream.
Most of the $592,142 added cost for 2011-12 is due to higher retirement ($344,447) and worker compensation ($132,164) contributions for police personnel, according to a June 21 report by Capt. John Burks, Brea’s police liaison with Yorba Linda.
Why some City Council members were unaware of these scheduled increases is unclear, but a 5.3 percent increase in police costs to $11.6 million, not including overtime, court time and capital expenditures, will be a major topic at council’s July 12 budget meeting.
Council members will look for cuts in various areas when they examine budgets for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 fiscal years. Tax and fee revenues are expected to be right at $27 million each year, according to an estimate presented at a June 7 council session.
But based on the June 7 budget overview, $1.3 million in red ink is anticipated for 2011-12 and another $1.4 million for 2012-13, not including $3.5 million and $2.9 million for previously proposed capital improvement expenditures for the two years.
At a June 21 meeting, two council members indicated they’ll be hunting for potential cuts in the Brea department’s spending plan for Yorba Linda, even though police management “is recommending no changes to any service levels at this time,” noted the Burks report.
“The department feels that the service levels in Yorba Linda are at minimum or near-minimum levels for the effective delivery of services,” Burks wrote. However, he added that “no more than one position” from traffic, school resource or police services could be trimmed without “significant” negative impact.
Elimination of a traffic officer would save the city $162,615, a school resource officer $91,710 or a police services officer $85,195 for the year, based on figures Burks noted for “total compensation and associated operational and support costs.”
Current staffing is 23 patrol officers at $142,896 each; 3 patrol sergeants at $179,959 each; 5 traffic officers at $162,615 each; traffic sergeant at $206,142; 7 detectives at $161,216 each; school resource officer at $158,121 (city $91,710 plus school district $66,411); and 2 police services officers at $85,195 each.
The city shares with Brea a civilian investigator at $54,915 and a crime analyst at $49,969. Another 48 full- and 17 part-time positions are shared with Brea, mostly with Yorba Linda paying 49 per cent for these management and support positions.
The 23 patrol officers are the “primary first responders for all emergencies,” providing 3,406 service hours monthly, with “at least four...working in Yorba Linda at any given time and five…at peak activity times,” according to Burks.
Brea gave sworn officers a three percent salary hike starting July 1 and three percent for July 1, 2012, but officers must pay 2.25 percent of salary for retirement this year and 4.5 percent next year. Total PERS retirement charge is 42.888 percent of salary for 2011-12.
Current sworn officers can retire at age 50 with three percent of salary per year of work. Under a “second tier” plan, new employees after July 1 can retire with two percent at 50.
Most of the $592,142 added cost for 2011-12 is due to higher retirement ($344,447) and worker compensation ($132,164) contributions for police personnel, according to a June 21 report by Capt. John Burks, Brea’s police liaison with Yorba Linda.
Why some City Council members were unaware of these scheduled increases is unclear, but a 5.3 percent increase in police costs to $11.6 million, not including overtime, court time and capital expenditures, will be a major topic at council’s July 12 budget meeting.
Council members will look for cuts in various areas when they examine budgets for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 fiscal years. Tax and fee revenues are expected to be right at $27 million each year, according to an estimate presented at a June 7 council session.
But based on the June 7 budget overview, $1.3 million in red ink is anticipated for 2011-12 and another $1.4 million for 2012-13, not including $3.5 million and $2.9 million for previously proposed capital improvement expenditures for the two years.
At a June 21 meeting, two council members indicated they’ll be hunting for potential cuts in the Brea department’s spending plan for Yorba Linda, even though police management “is recommending no changes to any service levels at this time,” noted the Burks report.
“The department feels that the service levels in Yorba Linda are at minimum or near-minimum levels for the effective delivery of services,” Burks wrote. However, he added that “no more than one position” from traffic, school resource or police services could be trimmed without “significant” negative impact.
Elimination of a traffic officer would save the city $162,615, a school resource officer $91,710 or a police services officer $85,195 for the year, based on figures Burks noted for “total compensation and associated operational and support costs.”
Current staffing is 23 patrol officers at $142,896 each; 3 patrol sergeants at $179,959 each; 5 traffic officers at $162,615 each; traffic sergeant at $206,142; 7 detectives at $161,216 each; school resource officer at $158,121 (city $91,710 plus school district $66,411); and 2 police services officers at $85,195 each.
The city shares with Brea a civilian investigator at $54,915 and a crime analyst at $49,969. Another 48 full- and 17 part-time positions are shared with Brea, mostly with Yorba Linda paying 49 per cent for these management and support positions.
The 23 patrol officers are the “primary first responders for all emergencies,” providing 3,406 service hours monthly, with “at least four...working in Yorba Linda at any given time and five…at peak activity times,” according to Burks.
Brea gave sworn officers a three percent salary hike starting July 1 and three percent for July 1, 2012, but officers must pay 2.25 percent of salary for retirement this year and 4.5 percent next year. Total PERS retirement charge is 42.888 percent of salary for 2011-12.
Current sworn officers can retire at age 50 with three percent of salary per year of work. Under a “second tier” plan, new employees after July 1 can retire with two percent at 50.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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